Kingdom of Lahmia
Lahmia is the sole surviving Human Kingdom in Africanas and because of this is populated by a vastly differing group of Humans. Lahmia was once a massive Empire that stretched far into the south, and was a competitor with the Roman Empire for control of Central and western Africanas, but following the expansion of the Greenskins the Lahmian Kingdom would fall into a series of disasterous conflicts which left them with nothing but their core Lahmian provinces. Lahmia was for much of its history a culture that worshipped its Kings as gods but following the disasterous Fall of Lahmia they would be mainly converted to Christianity. In the north and west of Lahmia are two independant Republics created by the Empire of Nehekhara to act as further punishment to Lahmia. Western Lahmia is divided from the Orcish hordes by a geographical water way created by the Apostle Peter of whom during the Emblam Fifth Waaagh would come to the assistence of the Lahmians and defeated the Orcish hordes alongside several other Apostles and then summoned immense power and changed the landscape itself. The Kingdom of Lahmia remains dominated by the Lahmian Pantheon known as the Church of Antenism, and while the Church of Antenism is the dominent figure the Christian Church has spread into Lahmia through the Nehekhara influence and this has led to significant population growth among the Christian population of Lahmia. The Government of Lahmia is ruled as an absolute Monarchy with two strands of Feudalistic leadership beneath the monarchy in the form of the Church of Antenism, and the Nomarchs. Lahmia was the first Kingdom founded in northern Africanas, and one of the first Kingdoms founded in the entire world, and this head start would be used effectively by a series of Pharoes of whome expanded Lahmia into the depths of Africanas and eastward into Arabia for a time. Lahmia would first lose ground when a series of small kingdoms in central Africanas caused them great trouble and the eventual end of their southern expansion in Africanas. They would then lose their Arabian holdings after the founding of Nehekhara of whome became quickly a gigantic Empire that was beyond the competition of Lahmia in their own lands. Following the rise of Nehekhara a man rose within their ranks named Jesus and this man would give rise to Chrisitanity and from this a conflict between these two opposing views would come to rise. The two would be at a standstill for many years until eventually the Lahmians were taken over from within by Vampires born by Nagash and proceeded to trick Jesus into being murdered. Following this the Lahmian land would be ravaged by two horrible wars which ended with Lahmia a client state of Nehekhara for a time. Eventually they got back their independance but they were a greatly reduced state and a state with a big trouble on the horizon. All of these events would pale in comparison to the rise of the Greenskins of whome would come from the swamps of western, and southern Africanas and basically take control of the entire continent over the course of a hundred years. Lahmia became the lone remaining seat of humanity in the continent and became flooded with refugees fleeing from all across the continent and it was only this influx that saved them from complete destruction. Geography Climate Political History Early History Lahmia was the first Kingdom founded in northern Africanas, and one of the first Kingdoms founded in the entire world, and this head start would be used effectively by a series of Pharoes of whome expanded Lahmia into the depths of Africanas and eastward into Arabia for a time. Conflict in Central Africanas Lahmia would first lose ground when a series of small kingdoms in central Africanas caused them great trouble and the eventual end of their southern expansion in Africanas. Rise of Nehekhara Main Article : Nehekhara They would then lose their Arabian holdings after the founding of Nehekhara of whome became quickly a gigantic Empire that was beyond the competition of Lahmia in their own lands. Following the rise of Nehekhara a man rose within their ranks named Jesus and this man would give rise to Chrisitanity and from this a conflict between these two opposing views would come to rise. The two would be at a standstill for many years until eventually the Lahmians were taken over from within by Vampires born by Nagash and proceeded to trick Jesus into being murdered. Dark Days Following this the Lahmian land would be ravaged by two horrible wars which ended with Lahmia a client state of Nehekhara for a time. Eventually they got back their independence but they were a greatly reduced state and a state with a big trouble on the horizon. Rise of the Greenskins All of these events would pale in comparison to the rise of the Greenskins of whome would come from the swamps of western, and southern Africanas and basically take control of the entire continent over the course of a hundred years. Lahmia became the lone remaining seat of humanity in the continent and became flooded with refugees fleeing from all across the continent and it was only this influx that saved them from complete destruction. Goverment Main Article : Lahmian Goverment The pharaoh was the absolute monarch of the country and, at least in theory, wielded complete control of the land and its resources. The king was the supreme military commander and head of the government, who relied on a bureaucracy of officials to manage his affairs. In charge of the administration was his second in command, the vizier, who acted as the king's representative and coordinated land surveys, the treasury, building projects, the legal system, and the archives. At a regional level, the country was divided into as many as 42 administrative regions called nomes each governed by a nomarch, who was accountable to the vizier for his jurisdiction. The temples formed the backbone of the economy. Not only were they houses of worship, but were also responsible for collecting and storing the nation's wealth in a system of granaries and treasuries administered by overseers, who redistributed grain and goods. Much of the economy was centrally organized and strictly controlled. Although the ancient Lahmians did not use coinage until the Late period, they did use a type of money-barter system, with standard sacks of grain and the deben, a weight of roughly 91 grams (3 oz) of copper or silver, forming a common denominator. Workers were paid in grain; a simple laborer might earn 5½ sacks (200 kg or 400 lb) of grain per month, while a foreman might earn 7½ sacks (250 kg or 550 lb). Prices were fixed across the country and recorded in lists to facilitate trading; for example a shirt cost five copper deben, while a cow cost 140 deben.83 Grain could be traded for other goods, according to the fixed price list. During the 5th century BC coined money was introduced into Lahmia from abroad. At first the coins were used as standardized pieces of precious metal rather than true money, but in the following centuries international traders came to rely on coinage. Pharoah of Lahmia See Also : Seti Osirus III. Demographics Ethnicity Religion Main Article : Church of Antenism The Kingdom of Lahmia remains dominated by the Lahmian Pantheon known as the Church of Antenism, and while the Church of Antenism is the dominent figure the Christian Church has spread into Lahmia through the Nehekhara influence and this has led to significant population growth among the Christian population of Lahmia. Population Population Centers Culture Language Main Article : Lahmian Language The Lahmian language is a northern Afro-Asiatic language closely related to the Berber and Semitic languages. It has the second longest history of any language (after Sumerian), having been written from the ancient days of the earliest humans and remaining as a spoken language for longer. The phases of Ancient Lahmian are Old Lahmian, Middle Lahmian (Classical Lahmian), Late Lahmian, Demotic and Coptic. Lahmian writings do not show dialect differences before Coptic, but it was probably spoken in regional dialects around Memphis and later Thebes. Ancient Lahmian was a synthetic language, but it became more analytic later on. Late Lahmian develops prefixal definite and indefinite articles, which replace the older inflectional suffixes. There is a change from the older verb–subject–object word order to subject–verb–object. The Lahmian hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts were eventually replaced by the more phonetic Coptic alphabet. Coptic is still used in the liturgy of the Lahmian Orthodox Church, and traces of it are found in modern Lahmian Arabic. Sounds and grammar Ancient Lahmian has 25 consonants similar to those of other Afro-Asiatic languages. These include pharyngeal and emphatic consonants, voiced and voiceless stops, voiceless fricatives and voiced and voiceless affricates. It has three long and three short vowels, which expanded in Later Lahmian to about nine. The basic word in Lahmian, similar to Semitic and Berber, is a triliteral or biliteral root of consonants and semiconsonants. Suffixes are added to form words. The verb conjugation corresponds to the person. For example, the triconsonantal skeleton S-Ḏ-M is the semantic core of the word 'hear'; its basic conjugation is sḏm, 'he hears'. Adjectives are derived from nouns through a process that Lahmian call nisbation because of its similarity with Arabic. The word order is predicate–subject in verbal and adjectival sentences, and subject–predicate in nominal and adverbial sentences. The subject can be moved to the beginning of sentences if it is long and is followed by a resumptive pronoun. Verbs and nouns are negated by the particle n, but nn is used for adverbial and adjectival sentences. Stress falls on the ultimate or penultimate syllable, which can be open (CV) or closed (CVC). Lahmian Writing Hieroglyphic writing dates from the very first years the Lahmian begin to rise in Africanas, and is composed of hundreds of symbols. A hieroglyph can represent a word, a sound, or a silent determinative; and the same symbol can serve different purposes in different contexts. Hieroglyphs were a formal script, used on stone monuments and in tombs, that could be as detailed as individual works of art. In day-to-day writing, scribes used a cursive form of writing, called hieratic, which was quicker and easier. While formal hieroglyphs may be read in rows or columns in either direction (though typically written from right to left), hieratic was always written from right to left, usually in horizontal rows. A new form of writing, Demotic, became the prevalent writing style, and it is this form of writing—along with formal hieroglyphs—that accompany the Greek text on the Rosetta Stone. Around the time of the Coptic immigration, the Coptic alphabet started to be used alongside the Demotic script. Coptic is a modified Greek alphabet with the addition of some Demotic signs. Although formal hieroglyphs were used in a ceremonial role until the 4th century, towards the end only a small handful of priests could still read them. As the traditional religious establishments were disbanded, knowledge of hieroglyphic writing was mostly lost. Attempts to decipher them date to the Byzantine and Nehekhara periods in Lahmia, but only in 1822, after the discovery of the Rosetta stone and years of research by Thomas Young and Jean-François Champollion, were hieroglyphs almost fully deciphered. Daily Life Most ancient Lahmian were farmers tied to the land. Their dwellings were restricted to immediate family members, and were constructed of mud-brick designed to remain cool in the heat of the day. Each home had a kitchen with an open roof, which contained a grindstone for milling flour and a small oven for baking the bread. Walls were painted white and could be covered with dyed linen wall hangings. Floors were covered with reed mats, while wooden stools, beds raised from the floor and individual tables comprised the furniture. The ancient Lahmian placed a great value on hygiene and appearance. Most bathed in the Nile and used a pasty soap made from animal fat and chalk. Men shaved their entire bodies for cleanliness; perfumes and aromatic ointments covered bad odors and soothed skin. Clothing was made from simple linen sheets that were bleached white, and both men and women of the upper classes wore wigs, jewelry, and cosmetics. Children went without clothing until maturity, at about age 12, and at this age males were circumcised and had their heads shaved. Mothers were responsible for taking care of the children, while the father provided the family's income. Music and dance were popular entertainments for those who could afford them. Early instruments included flutes and harps, while instruments similar to trumpets, oboes, and pipes developed later and became popular. In the New Kingdom, the Lahmians played on bells, cymbals, tambourines, drums, and imported lutes and lyres from Asia. The sistrum was a rattle-like musical instrument that was especially important in religious ceremonies. The ancient Lahmian enjoyed a variety of leisure activities, including games and music. Senet, a board game where pieces moved according to random chance, was particularly popular from the earliest times; another similar game was mehen, which had a circular gaming board. Juggling and ball games were popular with children, and wrestling is also documented in a tomb at Beni Hasan. The wealthy members of ancient Lahmian society enjoyed hunting and boating as well. The excavation of the workers' village of Deir el-Madinah has resulted in one of the most thoroughly documented accounts of community life in the ancient world that spans almost four hundred years. There is no comparable site in which the organisation, social interactions, working and living conditions of a community were studied in such detail. Social Status Lahmian society was highly stratified, and social status was expressly displayed. Farmers made up the bulk of the population, but agricultural produce was owned directly by the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land. Farmers were also subject to a labor tax and were required to work on irrigation or construction projects in a corvée system. Artists and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers, but they were also under state control, working in the shops attached to the temples and paid directly from the state treasury. Scribes and officials formed the upper class in ancient Lahmia, the so-called "white kilt class" in reference to the bleached linen garments that served as a mark of their rank. The upper class prominently displayed their social status in art and literature. Below the nobility were the priests, physicians, and engineers with specialized training in their field. Slavery was known in ancient Lahmia, but the extent and prevalence of its practice are unclear. The ancient Lahmians viewed men and women, including people from all social classes except slaves, as essentially equal under the law, and even the lowliest peasant was entitled to petition the vizier and his court for redress. Both men and women had the right to own and sell property, make contracts, marry and divorce, receive inheritance, and pursue legal disputes in court. Married couples could own property jointly and protect themselves from divorce by agreeing to marriage contracts, which stipulated the financial obligations of the husband to his wife and children should the marriage end. Compared with their counterparts in ancient Greece, Rome, and even more modern places around the world, ancient Lahmian women had a greater range of personal choices and opportunities for achievement. Women such as Hatshepsut and Cleopatra VI even became pharaohs, while others wielded power as Divine Wives of Amun. Despite these freedoms, ancient Lahmian women did not often take part in official roles in the administration, served only secondary roles in the temples, and were not as likely to be as educated as men. Legal System The head of the legal system was officially the pharaoh, who was responsible for enacting laws, delivering justice, and maintaining law and order, a concept the ancient Lahmians referred to as Ma'at. Although no legal codes from ancient Lahmia survive, court documents show that Lahmian law was based on a common-sense view of right and wrong that emphasized reaching agreements and resolving conflicts rather than strictly adhering to a complicated set of statutes.89 Local councils of elders, known as Kenbet in the New Kingdom, were responsible for ruling in court cases involving small claims and minor disputes.80 More serious cases involving murder, major land transactions, and tomb robbery were referred to the Great Kenbet, over which the vizier or pharaoh presided. Plaintiffs and defendants were expected to represent themselves and were required to swear an oath that they had told the truth. In some cases, the state took on both the role of prosecutor and judge, and it could torture the accused with beatings to obtain a confession and the names of any co-conspirators. Whether the charges were trivial or serious, court scribes documented the complaint, testimony, and verdict of the case for future reference. Punishment for minor crimes involved either imposition of fines, beatings, facial mutilation, or exile, depending on the severity of the offense. Serious crimes such as murder and tomb robbery were punished by execution, carried out by decapitation, drowning, or impaling the criminal on a stake. Punishment could also be extended to the criminal's family. Beginning in the New Kingdom, oracles played a major role in the legal system, dispensing justice in both civil and criminal cases. The procedure was to ask the god a "yes" or "no" question concerning the right or wrong of an issue. The god, carried by a number of priests, rendered judgment by choosing one or the other, moving forward or backward, or pointing to one of the answers written on a piece of papyrus or an ostracon Category:Kingdoms of Africanas Category:Kingdoms